We had some new friends around for a mid-afternoon glass of wine which turned into a few glasses of wine, which eventually became full-fledged dinner. Fortunately, we had everything on hand, including the clams (which were originally intended for something else).
I had made up some curry paste not too long ago (search recent posts) and usually have a good stock of Thai ingredients in the freezer (lime leaves, chiles and lemongrass). This was a delicious no-brainer. For something just thrown together, the balance of spice to flavor was just right in my opinion. Great flavors given up by the clams to the broth, too.
Smiles all around the table for this one and it came together rather quickly.
500 g fettucine or other ribbon-shaped pasta
2 tablespoons peanut oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallot, minced
1 stalk lemongrass, lower stem and bulb only, finely chopped
4-5 kaffir lime leaves, chiffonade
3 Thai chiles, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon red curry paste
1 tablespoon fish sauce
½ cup dry white wine
1 kg clams
juice of 1 lime
salt and black pepper, to taste
1 large handful cilantro, roughly chopped
Prepare the pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside, reserving 1/3 cup of pasta cooking water.
Heat the oil over medium-high heat on a wide saute pan. When hot, add the garlic, shallot, lemongrass, lime leaves, chiles and curry paste and saute for a few minutes until fragrant and the mixture darkens slightly.
Add the fish sauce, white wine and clams and turn the heat up to high, covering the pan. Let the clams cook for about 3-5 minutes, or until all of the clams have opened. Discard any that have not opened.
Squeeze in the lime juice, season with salt and pepper and stir the cilantro through off the heat. Add the pasta and toss well. Serve hot.
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